KAKADBHITTA, JUN 06 – Two wild elephant s have died in Bahundangi area, Jhapa, within the last one week.
A tusker was found lying dead on the ground at Bahundangi VDC on Thursday morning. According to District Forest Office (DFO), the body of the male elephant was found at the tea gardens in Bahundangi-2, Jhapa.
District Forest Officer Tribhuvan Chaudhary at the DFO suspected that it might have been struck by lightning on Wednesday night.
“As there are no marks indicating a fight or struggle, it might have died after being struck by lightning,” he said. The dead elephant was buried with assistance from locals on Thursday.
Similarly, a physically unwell wild elephant had died due to health reasons just about a week ago. Locals said that the sick tusker with a swollen leg had died after venturing into the Indian Territory.
Over the past decade, 26 elephants have been killed in Bahundangi, alone.
“It is in no way sensible to provoke an elephant, the more one pokes fun at it, the aggressive it gets,” said Dr Narendra Pradhan.
Of late, the rift between humans and wild life has continued to increase. Frustrated by the damage caused by the elephants to their houses and paddy fields, some local even threaten to shoot them down. However, as per the law of the land, killing an elephant carries a prison term of anywhere between 5-10 years along with Rs 50,000-100,000 to be paid in fine.